


Seeds of Discord Part 13

by kbj1123



Series: Wonder Woman & Captain America [14]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Wonder Woman - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Crossover Pairings, F/M, One True Pairing, Sexual Content, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-08
Updated: 2015-02-08
Packaged: 2018-03-11 00:36:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3309137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kbj1123/pseuds/kbj1123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone or something is causing violent riots to erupt all over the U.S., and whatever it is, it wreaks havoc with both Wonder Woman's health and Bruce Banner's ability to keep his rage in check.</p><p>The rescue attempt begins.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seeds of Discord Part 13

Steve leans on a railing of the commercial fishing boat Tony requisitioned, looking out at the choppy gray water miles off the coast of Alaska. He feels badly about imposing on a wealthy friend for an illegal operation. Not that Tony seemed to care about that. Steve wonders about the moral slippery slope he’s traversing. But he HAS to do this. It gives him a minute amount of relief that he convinced Tony to stay in Washington, at least. The water occasionally splashes onto the deck, but he doesn’t really notice. His physical balance is fine; it’s his emotional balance that he and his colleagues aren’t sure about. There is no horizon. The orange sunlight on the water doesn’t seem to have a source here, even though the light is ubiquitous this far north. The sky and the waves are thick and gray, and illuminated by orange light that might as well come from a fluorescent bulb.

He thinks about the friend whom he could not persuade to stay behind. Bruce has always been a good friend to Diana. He was her anchor as she regained her memories, her understanding of who she was, last year. “I, on the other hand, took off,” he remembers. “For the second time now, Diana needed me and I was on the other end of the country, by choice.” She didn’t want him to go on the mission to California. She never said as much, but he could see that she was still fragile, still sick. She needed him. Not even six months ago, her mother had delivered her an ultimatum, saying she’d had no choice but to force Diana to choose between worlds. “You always have a choice, Mother,” she’d said to her. “What is important to you?” 

Steve’s choice was action. He thought he could get ahead of Concordance and put an end to the riots and Diana’s illness. He’d convinced himself the greater good would automatically bring Diana back to health. “Once again,” he thinks, “Bruce was there for her while I was off pretending to be everyone’s hero. Will she forgive me if I willingly sacrifice her friend, and mine? But how can I not?” Bruce’s choice is also action. He’s a voluntary bargaining chip. If it comes down to it, Bruce told him, he wants to trade places with Diana. Even if she disagrees, she is unlikely to have a say in the matter. 

A huge wave crashes through the metal bars and soaks him to the thighs. Icy water and seaweed slosh down the insides of his boots, numbing his feet. A passage Steve learned in Sunday School as a kid comes to mind: “And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.” He thinks, “What will be left of me if things go south and I let Bruce go through with this?” It occurs to him that if Concordance’s goal is to bring him down as a symbol of law and order, they are well on their way to success. When he goes below-deck later, and he can feel his extremities again, will his feet be iron or clay? He isn’t sure he’ll be able to tell which action would indicate which outcome.  


He comes to a decision. He will leave for the rig well before the time he and Bruce had originally planned. There are at least a couple of shipmen he can bribe to turn around after he leaves in the very early morning on the raft by himself, rowing if he has to for the sake of silence, leaving his friend behind. He wonders how much of his plan has to do with possessiveness or jealousy, or maybe guilt that Bruce was Diana’s anchor all those times when it should have been him instead. Nevertheless, he will not allow these people to hurt or use someone who means this much to them both. He knows what is important to him, at least. Bruce’s disappointment or anger, dishonorable discharge, loss of commission, and even public humiliation are of no consequence if he can rescue Diana and, hopefully, keep his friend safe.


End file.
